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Wednesday, July 31, 2013

“What a Terrible Accident” Let's Play Dishonored: Part 16: The Finale

The journey must
have only taken an hour or two at the most. It's still clearly midday
by the time we arrive, but it feels like ages. Hell, these passed few
days must have shaved years off my life with all the stresses they've
put me through. But at long last, our trials have nearly come to a
close. All I need to do now is to save Emily from what remains of the
so-called “Loyalist” conspiracy. Havelock, Martin, and Pendleton
will likely need to be dealt with in some capacity if I want to
succeed, but that's no reason to suddenly start to get sloppy. I've
mostly kept it clean so far, and it's best to keep that tradition
going.

As Samuel explains
to me, there's a very good reason Havelock chose this place to be his
stronghold in the event of emergencies. There are only two ways to
get into the courtyard leading to the lighthouse proper. Each of
these entrances is guarded not only by city watchmen on patrol, but
also by their own Walls of Light. Once I get passed that, there's
only one route to the lighthouse, meaning that I'll be funneled into
taking a single path, likely crawling with guards. Though the place
takes the guise of a lighthouse, it would be more accurate to call it
a fortress. A normal man would probably never get in. Unfortunately
for Havelock, I am not a normal man even without the magic given to
me by the Outsider. As long as I'm careful, I can do this. Before I
hop on to the docks, Samuel wishes me the best of luck, saying that
it was a pleasure to work with me. Hopefully, once this is all over,
we can sit down for a drink and just talk like friends.
Unfortunately, he needs to speed off and go into hiding so that I
have an escape route.

With that said, I
start getting to work right away. There are some old supply crates
right next to the drop-off point containing some plague elixirs, so I
snatch a few up in case I need them later. Then, I notice a vantage
point atop a set of stairs that I can use plan my strategy for
infiltrating the citadel. I see a guard tower just before me. Lucky
for me, I'm just out of its range so I don't have to worry about
being caught. I can just barely get good look at the two entrances
from here. That's when I get an idea of how to improve my view. With
a running start I leap into the air and teleport to the very top of
the watch tower. Once I remove the whale oil tank powering it, I have
a much better sight of the exterior. There a certainly enough guards
to be a decent fight, but I honestly expected quite a few more on
each entrance. It's almost like they don't expect heavy resistance,
which is odd since the conspirators must know I'm coming for them.
Maybe they're just certain that I won't be able to bypass the Walls
of Light.

There's where the
real challenge will come from. I see them both pretty clearly and I
won't be able to just walk passed them... not in my own body. There's
an idea. Jumping once again, I use my powers to Blink behind a
barrier. The guards must not have seen anything, because their
demeanor hasn't changed in the slightest. From there, I sneak around
using the supply crates littered about as cover, moving passed a
large storm drain, using my powers of Possession to invade the mind
one of the rats skulking about. Once I've assumed direct control of
its form, I use this vessel to crawl through the small vents and
right around the Wall of Light. Exiting the rat and returning control
of its facilities, I see another barrier in my path, this time one of
metal. Unlike the Wall of Light preceding it, this one can be simply
climbed over. I'm up the wall and into the fortress proper well
before any of the guards have time to spot me.

That's when I see
another patrolman about to turn around and face me, so I Blink behind
a large pillar before he has the chance. Now I see where all the
patrols went. The courtyard has guards in abundance. If I got into a
scrap, I could be here for hours and still not dispatch all of them.
My only chance is to sneak into the lighthouse unseen. That's when I
see the guard who almost spotted me going to relieve himself behind
another stack of crates. From my position, I can also clearly view
the Wall of Light guarding the only entrance to the lighthouse,
itself protected by an Overseer with one of those power-jamming music
boxes, so I come up with an idea on the spot. With a wave of my hand,
I break through the pissing watchman's mental defense and jump into
his mind. Properly asserting my dominance, I walk in his form towards
the Wall of Light. The Musical Overseer on patrol must have noticed
that something was off, because he seems concerned the his friend
looked a little sick. He doesn't press the issue though, and I am
able to stroll on through without a saying a word. Heading up the
stairs and out of sight, I leave this body and continue my advance
upwards, consuming one of Piero's potions to sooth my aching head.

In front of me, I
see a guard at a desk. The next set of stairs crosses his line of
sight, so I would normally be barred from making further advances
without taking care of him. However, I'm much stronger now than I was
at the start of this whole ordeal. Focusing my mind, I use my powers
over the continuum to freeze space-time. Rather than use it to only
get passed a single guard, I make a split second decision to make a
mad dash to the top. I just barely make, and time resumes just as I
return to a prone position, drinking another one of Piero's elixirs
to quell my pounding head again. These powers are incredibly useful,
but perhaps there are consequences to abusing them the way I am.

In this next area,
I see that there is a set of rafters housing a few guards and an Arc
Pylon. The direct route would be suicide due to the pylon, let alone
the patrols. That's when I see that there's a little wiggle room
under the rafters. They must have that crawlspace under there for
maintenance. Well, no one's fixing anything today, so I might as well
use it for my own purposes. After all, it's only a Blink away. When I
reach the other side, I see that there's nothing more than a ramp
separating me from the elevator to the top of the lighthouse. I'd
never make it without alerting the guards, so I stop time and begin
another race against the clock. I reach the elevator door, but when I
try to open it I find that it's locked. Shit! I need to think
quickly. Okay, there has to be a guard around here with the key.
Searching behind the elevator, I see a guard with a key in his
pocket. I snatch it up, open the door, and close it just as time
resumes. Pulling the lever, I activate the elevator and breath a sigh
of relief. Even if they did notice me, there's nothing they can do
now.

I arrive near the
top of the lighthouse, only a stone's throw away from the grand
finale. I deftly tiptoe around the guards on my way to the top,
feeling my moves becoming bolder and bolder. Just as I was about to
be seen, I take possession of a guard and use him to bypass the
remaining patrols. The top of the lighthouse can be more accurately
described as a penthouse suite. This place is very lavishly
decorated, with a winding staircase surrounding the golden statue of
our former Lord Regent. As I scale the staircase, I hear, to my
surprise, only a single voice. Havelock appears to be ranting on and
on to himself. I didn't see hide nor hair of Martin or Pendleton
during my ascension, so I expected that they'd be here with him as
well. When I reach the top, just outside of the room, rather than go
through the main entrance to what looks like a dining hall, I opt to
scale a bookcase to observe the situation from the rafters.

That's when the
grizzly sight unfolds before my very eyes. It appears that I did not
ingest all of the poison Havelock had up his sleeve. I see Martin and
Pendleton dead in their respective seats, each of them clutching a
glass in their hands. From the looks of it, they've been dead for a
while. Rigor Mortis has started to set in. I suppose in a way, that's
a fitting end for a group of chronic backstabbers. Havelock continues
to rant out loud, apparently to himself. I don't know what's going on
in his head, but he's clearly gone off the deep end. All he keeps
saying is that it's Martin's fault, then Pendleton's, then mine.
Then, he goes on about how all the moves he's made have made sense.
The paranoia inherent to someone who's spent most of their time
conspiring has clearly done what years at war with other nations
could not, broken him down a sniveling child. I almost feel sympathy
for the poor fool... almost. Unlike Daud, this man is only sorry that
his little house of cards has come crashing down. He must know that
I'm at the very least on the island. And he must also know that his
days are numbered. If I don't kill take Havelock's life, then the
people of Dunwall sure as hell will.

Once I've seen
enough. I decide to end it myself. I'd rather let him live to face
proper judgment, but ultimately he's going to get in the way of my
rescue efforts, so he has to die. I'm not an idiot though. I know
that if I go down to fight him, that he may very well defeat me at
the last possible second. Instead of chancing a direct confrontation,
I summon two swarms of rats to devour his flesh. It's for the best.
Farewell, Admiral Havelock. May you enjoy your stay in hell. Taking
the key off his desk, I hear another voice, that of my little girl.
It's actually kinda cute listening to her trying to intimidate
Havelock into releasing her. She'll make a fine Empress. Once she
calms down, I open the door and rescue her. Together, we make our way
back to the docks where Samuel is waiting to come out of hiding.
Since the future Empress is with me, the guards know better than to
impede our progress, and the return trip is a smooth as can be.

And so ends my
contribution to the myths and legends of Dunwall. In the years since,
I've faded into the background, returning to my duties as Royal
Protector. With Sokolov and Piero working together, a cure to the
plague ravaging the city is developed faster than any of us thought
possible. A new era of prosperity is ushered in with the rise of the
next Empress, Emily Kaldwin “the Wise”, as she would come to be
known. I cling to life for a long while, keeping my daughter as safe
as I can. The task is easier than one might think since so few would
even attempt to cross me. I live out the rest of my days in relative
peace and happiness. However, like all other mortals, my life will
one day fade. When that happens, I think I'll go out with a smile.

2 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Having recently been playing through the game a second time, I have greatly enjoyed your posts recounting your journey through Dunwall, and I have even discovered a few secrets thanks to you.Congratulations and thanks are in order !